Keep Your Cereal from Getting Soggy with Obol

Our intern Rebekah Lowin, a sophomore at Columbia University provides us with her take on the Obol, a bowl that promises to keep your cereal from getting soggy!

Cereal-lovers, unite! There's a revolutionary new product on the market that will leave you in cereal heaven, and this past week, I had the chance to test it. The Obol, the Never-Soggy Cereal Bowl ($19.95 at Brookstone) can completely change your mornings.

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Cereal comes in so many shapes, sizes, flavors, and brands, it's hard to find something to dislike about this breakfast treat. So let's not be too quick to blame cereal for the complaints it sometimes receives. Too soggy, too dry...we've all heard it before. But back off, cereal-haters, and let's be real for a second. Is it really the cereal's fault? After all, most of these complaints are directed at the milk, or the milk's interaction with the cereal.

Still, there's never before been anything to do about these soggy/dry problems. If you thought your cereal was getting too soggy, you had no choice but to quickly consume whatever remained in your bowl before it got - horror of all horrors - even soggier. If you thought it was too dry, you'd find yourself wasting cartons of milk (yes, cartons, for the more ambitious) to get it just right.

The Obol changes all of that! It's just like a regular bowl, except it's divided down the middle to create two "compartments." One for milk, and one for cereal. All you have to do is scoop a spoonful of your cereal into your spoon, and then dive into the milk. You'll create a perfect spoonful each time, no matter what your cereal preferences are.

And it's extremely easy to hold, so you can eat your cereal wherever you like -, in bed while watching a movie, in the car (not while driving, of course), at your computer...the options are endless.

You can also use the bowl for things other than cereal, though I'm not sure why you'd worry yourself with any other food group. Chips and salsa, milk and cookies, chowder and crackers are among the suggested alternate uses. The Obol is dishwasher-safe and break-resistant, and claims to be made from BPA-free polypropylene.

My own experience with the bowl was wonderful, and I'm a finicky cereal-eater with high standards. I tested the bowl with a cereal that contained both fruit and clusters of oats to see how they fared in the milk. Everything went according to plan, and I was very happy with the dryness level of my cereal. And maybe I don't get out enough, but I had a pretty fun time with the thing. My only concern was that the recommended serving size of cereal, which I carefully measured out, didn't fill the bowl. As the Obol holds about 1 cup of cereal, you could easily eat more than a portion, which could be a problem if you're watching calories. Though it's certainly not a must-have, the Obol is a cool gadget to have around, and it'd make a great gift for any cereal fanatic.

Ready to fill your bowl with a tasty (and healthy) cereal? Check out our top picks for healthy cereals.

Finished with your cereal? Check out these great ideas from the Daily Green on how to reuse your cereal bag.